As the Rain Falls
by EvanescentBeauty
Summary: Any shred of hope left at Hogwarts has been swept away by the death of Dumbledore...Ginny and Harry give real goodbye's and speak of the war of the come.


Ginny Weasley sighed as silver drops of rain began to trickle down the ice-cold glass of her bedroom window. The room was dead quiet...nothing moved except for the leaves rustling in the bitter wind that blew outside.

Nothing moves, nothing matters.

Ginny closed her cinnamon-brown eyes against the gloomy scene. She nestled down deeper into the large armchair that she had shifted slightly to face the open window. She had been so happy...so content with how things were. She and Harry were in love, and they would have had so much more time together...but it was his fear of her association with him that had scared him away from what little time they had together. Couldn't he have waited just a few more days? He broke up with her on the funeral of Dumbledore...she didn't think there could be a colder thing to do.

_Ginny, listen...I can't be involved with you anymore...we've got to stop seeing each other...we can't be together..._

She had tried to bury her hurt into the farthest corners of her heart...tried to deny the grief that was taking over. She had tried to hide her sadness by twisting her mouth into that awkward smile that both of them recognized right away as being far away from sincere.

_It's for some stupid, noble reason, isn't it?_

_Think of how much danger you'll be in if we keep this up..._

_What if I don't care?!_

_I care..._

Suddenly, something caught her eye outside the window. It was Harry, sitting next to a tree by the lake. Her eyes widened. He would freeze to death in the rain! She wrapped her bathrobe tighter around her torso and headed out of the common room, but not before passing Ron, who was sitting on the couch by the fire, with his arm wrapped around Hermione.

She climbed down the long staircase that led to the gates. There was no one in the Great Hall. Practically no one had left their common rooms since Dumbledore's funeral. It had been dark, gloomy last days of term that had greeted the students, and even though it was the first thing on everyone's list to get out of Hogwarts, no one seemed to really want to leave. There was a sort of comfort in a rainy day at Hogwarts that no one wanted to let go of, but they had to admit was leaking away.

As she hurried down the stone steps towards the lake she realized that she was going to get wet from the rain anyway. She began to run, not bothering to tighten her grip on her bathrobe.

She approached the large oak tree, it's large branches, which had offered so much protection on those glorious summer days, now seemed as dreary and hopeless as everything else in the world. Ginny rubbed her shoulders fiercely, trying to generate some heat under her cotton clothes, which now provided as much heat as an ice cube.

"Harry?" she murmured. He didn't answer, or even look up. She had expected as much. She squatted down onto her knees, not caring about the mud squelching around them.

"Harry...please talk to me," she whispered. "I'm still your friend." She raised a reluctant hand and began to stroke his hair. He didn't move or react to her touch. Again, she didn't think he would, but the thought alone was killing her. It brought tears to her eyes.

She remembered, years ago, how the sun would shine so brightly on the Hogwarts grounds, and she would walk over the grass, and see Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting against this very tree; Hermione's face buried in a book, and Harry and Ron exchanging insults of Snape and scorns of Trelawney. She remembered how the Quidditch matches used to be their only concern...and how much they hated people like Draco Malfoy and Crabbe and Goyle. But everything was different now. Dumbledore was gone, Sirius was gone...even her brother, Bill, had been mauled by Fenrir Greyback, and no one knew if he would ever be the same again. Practically the only good thing left in her life was Harry, and now he was gone too. Lost to her forever. She didn't know how they would ever be friends again...or even boyfriend and girlfriend. If the both of them survived the war that was rapidly approaching, would things ever go back to the way they were?

"Harry..." she began softly. "I know things seem hopeless now...but I want you to remember that we all love you. You'll survive this war..." She took a deep breath. "...and there is always hope."

Harry's eyes were red from crying, and the last remnants of tears were nestled against his sparkling green eyes.

"Harry," choked out Ginny, who was beginning to cry herself. "I don't want to lose you..."

"I'm not going to die," Harry assured her. He didn't even look at her when he said these words, and Ginny wasn't even sure if he meant them.

"I'm not talking about death," she said, removing her hand from his hair to wipe the tears from her eyes. In this gesture, she didn't realize that Harry had finally looked up. He looked at her sad face, every last shred of hope that either of them had ever held together or separately were being ripped away. He knew what she meant, though.

"Ginny, this is something that I have to do," he whispered.

"You're so sure that this is your destiny!" snapped Ginny, suddenly flaring up. "What if it isn't?! Why can't things go back to the way they used to be...?" She broke out into full sobs now, but she wasn't sure anymore of the difference between her tears and the rain, which was steadily starting to rain harder.

"Ginny, please..." murmured Harry, caressing her cheek softly. "I don't want you to ever think you're alone..."

"But I am!" she insisted, only realizing after that she sounded like an immature child. She cleared her throat. "I'm sorry, Harry. I know this isn't what you need right now, and I don't even know why I came."

"I know why you came," said Harry, grabbing her hand when she attempted to get up. She looked down at him, her red hair during a dark wine color in the rain. It stuck to her face, making her look thinner than usual.

"It's because you love me," whispered Harry. "And I love you too."

He pulled her down to kneel again and brushed back a lock of cold, wet hair. Her cinnamon-brown eyes were now dark. No longer were they filled with the playful light that Harry had always loved about her.

"What happened to you?" he whispered, almost to himself.

"I'm not a little girl anymore," she whispered. "I'm not the little sister that you used to know. I'm growing up," she added regretfully. "And however much I want to hold on to those memories that I cherish, and that I know you do too...I can't hide from what's coming." She took a deep breath, finally realizing. "And neither can you."

She saw Harry's eyes fill with tears, but it didn't last long. He pulled her into a deep kiss, his fingers wrapped around her neck. Ginny slowly wrapped her arms around him, and ran her fingers through his hair. Finally, their lips parted, but only slightly. Their foreheads were pressed together, and Harry had his arms wrapped around her waist.

"I love you, Harry Potter," she whispered. "And Harry James Potter, you are going to win this war. We'll see blood, sweat and tears but we'll get through it all because that is what's meant to happen." She looked into his eyes. "Good always wins."

Harry paused.

"What if it doesn't?" he whispered.

"It will," insisted Ginny, putting her hand to his cheek. He held her small hand in his and squeezed it.

"I love you," he said.

"I know," whispered Ginny. "I love you more."

Harry smiled.

"Come on..." said Ginny, helping him up. "Let's go."

* * *

**A/N: Did you guys like it? Would you like it to be more than a oneshot...??? Your thoughts, please.**


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